Bow
by Mazauric Mystics
Summary: Post Series 4. Freddie is still gone, Cook is now missing too. Things at home don't improve and so Effy is taken back to Cardiff by Tony. However life for Effy is never simple and when things from her past follow her to Cardiff, it only gets worse.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: **It's been awhile since I last wrote on Fanfiction (for the main reason that I've been off and hopefully improving my writing skills)

Practise makes perfect and I seriously think Season Four of Skins left a lot of loose ends I want to tie up in my own way. So read, review, tell me what you thought of Skins as well. I think the ending could be improved and why not bring back old characters in the process?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in Skins and sadly, never have.

* * *

**Chapter One**

Effy really didn't know what the fuck she was doing here. As she leaned her tired head against the window of the train she was sitting in, she could feel Tony's hard blue eyes on her, though by now she was a bit too far gone to care. She could hear Tony ruffle the newspaper in his hand as he turned the page though she knew all too well he wasn't reading. Just pretending to so he could stare at her more.

"Take a fucking picture" she grumbled quietly as the scenery rushed past her window "Lasts longer"

Tony didn't reply, instead he ruffled the newspaper a little more and finally tore his eyes off his sister and focussed on the article in front of him.

Effy turned her eyes back to the scenery and watched the trees and landscape rush past in a blur. The last few days had been like that for her, a simple blur...

* * *

"Has anyone seen Cook?" Katie asked as the group assembled at the airport

"Not since Freddie's birthday" J.J. shook his head, when Effy winced at the sound of Freddie's name, J.J. quickly recoiled "Oh. Sorry Ef"

"It's alright" Effy lied.

It really wasn't.

Since Freddie's birthday, nobody had seen Cook anywhere. He'd just run off halfway through the party. Effy had assumed he'd passed out somewhere in a bush but when he didn't turn up in the days following, she started to feel a little worried.

Though not half as worried as she was for Freddie. No word on his disappearance either and by now Karen and her father had gotten the police involved in the search for him.

Pandora hauled her last flowery suitcase on the customs band and returned to her group of friends. Effy couldn't help but admire Pandora's pigtails, done up high and crazy-like, just how she'd first met her. Pandora's clothes weren't blending in either, a mixture of bright happy colours. Though Effy was glad her friend was going off to Harvard and making something of herself, she still hated to see her go.

"Well, that's me" Pandora said cheerfully "And I'm gonna call you all when I get there alright?"

Effy folded her thin arms and looked up at the bright screens that showed a table of all the flights coming in and out. When Pandora's flight announced it was boarding, a dinging sound announced the speaker as the pleasant woman's voice announced Pandora's flight was now boarding.

Effy waited as Pandora quickly went to hug everyone else. Effy had to be last and she knew that. Of everyone there, Pandora probably had the most to say to Effy.

Effy flicked her eyes to the group of people next to her as Pandora went around hugging them goodbye. J.J., Katie, Emily and Naomi. Their group had diminished somewhat with Freddie and Cook's disappearance. Also, a week prior, Thomas had left for Harvard as well. Effy had a feeling Pandora was planning a large surprise because she still hadn't told Thomas she was going there too.

When her bouncy blonde friend finally reached her, Effy felt her arms work as they wrapped themselves around Pandora. Effy rested her head on Pandora's shoulder and closed her eyes as a need for her friend made her hug Pandora very tightly.

She could feel Pandora holding her just as tightly and the hug was over before Effy was ready.

Pandora reluctantly pulled away and looked over her friend.

"Call me when you land alright?" Effy went back to folding her arms in a fruitless attempt to keep her hands to herself and stop herself from pulling Pandora away from the plane "Or text"

"You will keep in touch eh?" Pandora replied, hope in her voice as her enquiring eyes stripped Effy of all her walls. It was probably the only thing that Effy really found quite startling about Pandora, for all her goofiness Pandora was still very good at reading Effy like a book.

"Yeah" Effy looked down, she couldn't look Pandora in the eye as she answered. Mostly because she didn't know if she would or not.

But Pandora wasn't having that, she reached out and took one of Effy's hands. She held it tight and made Effy look up at her face.

"Promise?" Pandora asked again "Keep in touch yeah? They'll find Freddie and Cookie"

Effy wasn't so sure if she wanted them to find Cook. After all, that did mean more jail time.

Still she nodded and decided to at least appease Pandora with positive thinking.

"Yeah...course" Effy and Pandora hugged once more before Pandora went to say goodbye to her mother.

Then finally, she was on the plane and gone.

When Effy got home, the house was dark. Shutting the door behind herself, Effy looked up the stairs and frowned when she heard a thud from upstairs.

"Mum?" Effy called hesitantly. The last time she'd come home to a strange thumping upstairs, she'd found her mother in her room with her fathers' boss.

Of course now her father was long gone, but that didn't mean Effy was prepared to see that again.

"Mum?" Effy called again. When she received no reply, she quietly crept up the stairs.

She could hear muffled voices coming from her mother's bedroom and when she saw the light in her room shining from underneath the door, Effy wondered if it was safe at all to check.

Still, thoughts of her mother doing something stupid like falling and hitting her head came to mind and Effy didn't want to take the chance. She took a deep breath and grabbed the doorknob before quickly twisting it and pushing the wood of the door open.

She was not prepared for what she saw...

* * *

"Ef" Tony snapped Effy out of her memories and Effy looked up at her brother a little startled.

Tony was staring at her like he'd been trying to get her attention for awhile now. He nodded to the door of their compartment and Effy looked to the window, only to find the train had stopped.

"...oh"

"Come on Ef" Tony gently ushered his sister out of their compartment and towards the station.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Effy!" Anthea exclaimed, pulling her shirt on as quickly as possible. Behind her, Aldo was trying to pull his pants on before Effy saw too much but Effy had already seen enough.

She remembered Aldo of course, how could she ever forget him? When she and her mother went to Venice, she crushed on Aldo so hard it broke her world when she found out her mother was sleeping with the older man. Of course, in terms of age it made sense but Effy didn't like the idea of sharing any man, least of all with her self absorbed mother.

"Aldo" Effy mumbled, already catching a glimpse of his privates just before he could pull his underwear up "When did you get here?"

"Um, Effy" Anthea mumbled, trying to pull her shirt on faster "I thought you were um, you know, going out with Pandora"

"Pandora left, mum" Effy's tone quickly turned bored as she was reminded Anthea had a hard time remembering what was going on with her kids sometimes "It was a farewell not a fucking party"

She folded her arms and looked up at the pair of adults before her. Adults, if you could call them that. To Effy, the fact that they were frantically trying to get dressed and pretend that nothing happened was just further confirmation her mother knew she'd done something wrong by inviting Aldo back into their lives.

As if this wasn't hard enough for Effy.

"Effy" Aldo finally said once he was sure his pants were on and his shirt had most of the buttons done up "It's nice to um, to see you again"

Effy didn't have anything else to say to them, all thoughts about how much she'd wanted Aldo in Venice were rushing back to her head and when they mixed with her thoughts and worries about Cook and Freddie, she didn't think she'd be able to handle much more.

"Effy!" Anthea called as Effy quickly turned around and marched back to her room. She slammed her door behind herself and as she went to sit on her bed and calm herself down, she could hear Anthea talking quietly to Aldo.

* * *

Effy was snapped out of her thoughts again when the taxi she was sitting in came to a sudden halt. She looked up to see the bright large sign before her 'CARDIFF UNIVERSITY'

Tony got out of the taxi with Effy and went to drag her suitcases up to the dormrooms. Effy didn't say anything and Tony wasn't in a very talkative mood either as he carried her bags for her up to the Halls of Residence.

Effy could feel eyes on her as she walked down the hallway with her brother. What a pair they made, Effy couldn't stop the smile that came to her lips as she thought about it. She and Tony had always made a pair. Leaving countless broken hearts behind them and normally not giving a shit about anything that happened. She liked how, when Tony was still in Bristol, she used to be the only person he could really be himself around. Gave her a strange sense of power, of belonging that she lost quite rapidly when he left for Cardiff.

She'd been angry at him for awhile just for leaving.

Effy could feel Tony's hand clamp around her arm and she looked up at him. Damn his height, he'd always been so much taller than her. She liked reading people, she was very good at it. But Tony's height made it hard for her to read him all the time and Effy was pretty sure he was well aware of that fact.

A sound ahead in the hallway alerted her to the reason why he'd grabbed her arm. Tony quickly steered Effy into the wall and stepped out of the way as a gaggle of abour 15 college girls flew past the pair of them. They were dressed in uniform, sports uniform of some sort. Effy wanted to glare at them for running down the hallway in the first place, they were like a train.

She wanted to glare but she couldn't. One of the girls caught her eye. She was shorter than the tall bunch of girls she was with and she stuck out with her black hair where the others were predominantly blonde. Effy's eyes must have been on her longer than she thought because as the girl passed, she looked right at Effy. Their eyes met, Effy's cool and unemotional ones met her dark and confused ones and for a moment, Effy was sure she could read every emotion on the girls' face.

But that was only for a moment, the girl was running with her team and fairly soon, they were gone.

Tony tugged on her arm again and Effy followed him until finally, they reached a door with the number S12 on it. Effy stored that number for later and followed him as he opened the door and led her inside.

Tony's room smelt odd. Like a combination of mens spray and weed. Effy must have let her guard down for a second because Tony read her thoughts and her face.

"My roommate" he told her quickly. He leaned over to close the door and Effy felt a sense that what he was about to say was for her ears only. She could live with that.

"He's a dodgy guy" Tony continued as he placed her bag on his bed "I know I haven't been around to be a big brother Ef, but do me this one thing"

"Don't fuck him?" Effy rose an eyebrow at him, Tony shot her a look that told her he wasn't kidding and she sighed "Fine" she shook her head and looked down at the floor "Not in the mood for fucking anyone anyway"

That was half true. With Freddie and Cook still missing, Effy's thoughts were clouded. The last time she'd fucked someone with a clouded mind, she'd made a mess of things. If you could call the love triangle between her, Cook and Freddie a mess.

Tony seemed a little relieved and went over to pull her into a hug. For a moment, Effy stood there in his arms, her arms still limp at her sides. It wasn't like she hadn't hugged Tony before, she had. It was just that her mind was still riddled with so much running through it and right now, she could only really process so many things in a day.

Today had been a big day and her mind was slow to process it all. Hell, she was still on medication.

Tony pulled away from his hug first and pointed to the chair in the corner "Sit there, I'll unpack this"

"Ton-" Effy began to protest but he wasn't hearing it.

"I know mum was pretty lenient on you and look where it ended" he told her firmly "As long as I'm looking after you, I've got to make sure you don't take any...shit"

Effy frowned, since when was Tony against her taking recreational drugs? Wasn't he the one who encouraged her before she went to Roundview? What happened to the Tony who would distract their dad whilst she snuck her way back into the house?

Still, he looked dead serious so Effy obediently turned around and went to sit down on the chair.

She watched quietly as Tony took out her clothes and neatly put them away in the three drawers he'd left empty for her in his closet. He checked her socks, her pockets, everything for something she might have hidden.

Effy narrowed her eyes when he found a small baggie hidden away in her dress pocket and he shook it at her.

"It's just weed" she frowned

"Does it fuck with your medication?" Tony asked, already knowing the answer. Effy didn't even have to answer. He quickly took the bag in his hand and shoved it in his pocket.

Damned if he was going to steal her munchies too.

* * *

Katie sat at the table looking over the newspaper in front of her. Mornings weren't always her thing but this morning was a little different.

The fact that James had taken to watching her in the bathroom through the keyhole, hadn't even been enough to derail her good mood, she was just feeling good today.

"Morning Katie-kins" Jenna smiled at her as she fluttered into the kitchen, Katie mumbled a 'morning' and scanned the front page.

Freddie was missing. Freddie was officially missing now. Gathering this much attention, the article went on about how he'd now been missing for a month or so. Karen and his father was in on the search of course and as much as Katie wanted to help, there was little she could do.

As she turned the page, she frowned when a small article caught her attention.

Another one missing?

John Foster, who was supposed to be meeting with relatives in London, failed to turn up and when they called his house, nobody was there. Katie frowned as she realised the name John Foster rung a bell. Rung a few bells in her head actually.

She couldn't quite place it but that name was incredibly familiar. The fact that he was in this area and that he'd gone missing with Cook and Freddie at the same time was rather...suspicious? Coincidental? Katie wasn't sure.

The doorbell rang and Katie folded the paper up and got up from her chair as she saw her mother about to head to it.

"I've got it" she told her, Jenna smiled and headed back to her cooking as Katie walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

Despite what was in the paper and despite her growing concern for Cook and especially Freddie. She still felt good today. Maybe it was the clothes she was wearing. Katie would be the first to admit she looked damn good today in her dark blue skirt and her light blue top. Add enough jewellery, hairspray and makeup and Katie was pretty sure no straight guy would be able to stop staring at her today.

She pulled open the door and looked up to find a teenage boy standing on the other side. He had shortish dark hair, very dark eyes. Katie's attention immediately snapped to the fact that he wasn't bad on the eyes. On the contrary, this tall teenage boy standing before her immediately made her aware of herself with one simple look. He was tall, somewhat nicely built and there was a certain look about his face. Hidden angst? Sulky? Katie wasn't sure what it was but she liked it anyway.

"Can I help you?" she asked, hoping he'd actually come for her.

"Um" he dug his hands in his pockets and in that simple hesitation, Katie found him somewhat adorable "Is Emily here?" he asked

Katie felt a little part of her slump in disappointment and she shook her head "Who are you?"

"I'm Matt" he replied simply "Matt Moore"

_Shit_, Katie thought as her mind clicked. She'd seen this guy before, he came for Emily last year just before she left the house and went to live with Naomi.

Matt Moore? This guy was Sophia's brother.

* * *

Harvard.

Two years ago, if someone had told Pandora she was going to be heading off to Harvard to study, she'd have asked them if they were on the same things she was on for her dizzy spells. As her taxi pulled up to the entrance of the university, Pandora stared up at it in awe.

She hadn't realised how big it was!

The first thing she wondered was how on earth, was she ever going to find Thomas in a place like this?

Maybe she should have told him she was going here before he left.

Pandora exited the taxi and went to get her bags. She still had no clue how she was going to find her way around but she was fairly sure she would. She'd found her way around that girls school and her lateness earnt her a friend in Effy Stonem. Things always worked out somehow.

Taking out her flowery bags, she set the wheels out, thanked the driver for helping her and set off towards the building.

She passed students on the lawn, some lounging around, others choosing the sunny outdoors to study. Pandora had to duck as a frizbee flew past her and a thought passed her brain wondering if she was in the right University. Weren't these people the future leaders or something like that?

Pandora worked her way around the building and found her way to the Residence Halls. She had to pull her admissions paper from her bag and scan it for her dorm number. 14AC. Well okay, how hard was that? All she had to do was figure out what the numbers meant and what the letters meant.

AC. 'A' would have told her that it was probably the first floor, or maybe the first section?

Shit, she hadn't even begun her lectures and already she was bogging up.

There must have been a panicked look on her face because a passing student stopped and looked at her.

"You look lost" he said.

Pandora looked up to find herself face to face with probably one of the most handsome guys she'd ever seen. He was tall, he had dark hair and dark eyes. Pandora noted he was well dressed and his teeth were perfect. She could watch him smile all day...if she wasn't thinking about Thomas every two seconds.

"Um, yes" she nodded to the paper in her hands "Where's 14AC?"

The guy leaned over to take her paper from her and Pandora's head swam when he came closer, he smelt so good.

He looked over her paper and pointed down the hallway "If you turn left, down there, and then take a right, count the doors and you'll find 14AC"

"So" Pandora tore her eyes off him and looked down the crowded hallway "Right then..."

She must have looked lost still because the guy just smiled and leaned over to take her bag for her "Here, I'll lead you" he said, amusement in his voice. Pandora could do nothing but let him lead. She followed and kept herself close for fear of losing him and her bag in the crowd.

Pandora wanted to focus on something else. There were so many people around her, different shapes and sizes, all of them passing through with their own kind of agenda. She wanted to think about Thomas, she wanted to wonder if he'd been led to his dorm by someone as kind. She wanted to worry about Effy. But honestly, all she could wonder about was the guy who was leading her.

She wanted to know what his name was. How long had he been studying in Harvard, he certainly didn't look new. He couldn't be, he knew his way around. Pandora watched the way his hand so effortlessly pulled her bag behind him, she observed his fingers. Calloused as they were, there was a certain amount of gentleness in the way he handled her luggage.

Finally, when they reached 14AC, Pandora barely noticed until he stopped walking and turned back to look at her.

"Oh!" Pandora looked up and blinked at her number on the door. She reached in her pocket and fumbled around for her key before walking past him to get to her door. Once again, the smell of him got to her senses and Pandora quickly unlocked her door and pushed it open in the hopes of getting away from him faster.

She wandered into her room and looked around. It was fairly basic. Two beds on either side of the room, two dressers, two desks. Pandora wondered who she was sharing the room with.

When she heard the guy behind her putting her bag down, she turned around "Thanks" she said "For...you know...leading me here. I'd have gotten so lost if you didn't"

"It's all good" he replied simply. He handed back her paper and Pandora gingerly took it. She dared to look up at his face again and was a little startled to find he was looking at her too. More than that, he was studying her.

"You're English" he observed "Accent and all"

"Yep" Pandora replied simply "Bristol. Is the accent that strong?" oh god, was she going to be hazed by Americans because she sounded funny?

Once again, he read her like a book and felt the need to reassure her "Don't worry" he laughed "Your accent is cute, it's not a bad thing"

Cute? He thought her accent was cute? Pandora smiled awkwardly at him and he returned the action before backing up out of the room.

"I'll leave you to it. Take it easy Pandora" he said

Pandora blinked "How did you know my name?"

With that, he just smiled and pointed to the paper she had in her hand. Pandora internally cursed. Of course, it would have her name on it. Duh.

"I'm Marcel" he told her "I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, maybe" Pandora didn't know why. But she hoped this wasn't going to be the last time she saw Marcel. She was taken, she loved Thomas and all...but he was nice to look at.

Marcel left the dorm and the moment he and his wonderful scent was gone, Pandora's thoughts cleared and she blinked.

Thomas, right. She had to find Thomas.

She closed the door to her dorm and looked at her flowery bag. She muttered a curse under her breath and started unpacking.

After she found Thomas, she had to call Effy.

* * *

It took him awhile but Tony finally finished unpacking Effy's bag. He'd only taken two bags of weed but Effy already felt slightly betrayed.

He arranged her medication in his drawer and turned to her "Don't let Tyler see this" he told her.

Effy could only assume this Tyler was his 'sketchy' room mate.

She sighed boredly and crossed one leg over the other. Just as Tony shoved her empty bag under his bed, the door opened and Effy looked up.

To her surprise, it was not a strangers' head that poked through.

"Tony" Sid said as he stuck his head into the room "Cassie's in one of her moods again, do you mind if I hide here?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

A sharp cry broke J.J.'s sleep at 4 in the morning.

Sitting straight up, it took him a good minute or so to figure out what the crying was.

Albert of course. When was it not?

J.J had been pretty much living with Lara since Roundview was over. It had taken him ages to convince his mother that this was the right (and grown up) way to do things and in the end he'd just gone ahead and done it anyway.

She'd get over herself eventually.

Lara seemed alright with it, J.J. had taken over looking after Albert when Lara was busy. The instances where she'd been going off to work had been increasing lately due to her need to be promoted and thus, be paid more so she could better handle Albert. J.J. wished he could help, but in addition to working in the confectionaries with her, he was also in no position to be promoted anytime soon.

J.J. rubbed at his eyes and looked over at the sleeping girl next to him. These days, Lara could sleep through almost anything and J.J. hadn't been expecting to find anything different. There she was, in all her blonde glory, lying under the covers, her pink streak rested slightly over her cheek as she snuggled into J.J. and slept on.

Still, Albert's crying was getting to J.J. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a decent night's sleep.

He gently got up from the bed, taking extra care not to wake Lara, and wandered through the darkness of the house to find Albert.

* * *

Effy watched as Sid moved towards the fridge. Presumably for the milk inside.

She narrowed her eyes and glanced over at Tony, who was sitting on the end of her bed. He too was watching Sid, though not as confused as her.

"Last I heard" Effy finally broke the silence as Sid opened the fridge and searched inside for the milk "You were in New York looking for Cassie"

"I found her" Sid said as he took the milk out and closed the door. He sat down on the end of Tony's bed and opened the lid of the carton "Took me ages, and I got mugged twice before I found her"

"More like, _she _found _you_" Tony corrected him as Sid took a few generous gulps from the carton of milk "Sid just so happened to be outside a cafe the second time he got mugged"

"Cassie came running out, chased them off" Sid finished and put the carton down on the floor "She was living in an apartment...belonged to some guy named Adam"

Effy frowned and looked back at Tony, only to see he'd already set his mind on thinking about something else. Effy took the moment he was distracted as an oppertunity to observe him. Of all the people in the world, Tony was the hardest to read. To Effy, it was like looking in an encyclopedia of thoughts, motivations and actions. Almost everything Tony did was carefully calculated. For years, she'd had to adjust herself around the idea that Tony was merely too smart for her to read.

But when he got hit by the bus and everything started fucking up around him, that had scared her more than anything. Tony had never been so...vulnerable. He'd never been so slow. It scared the hell out of Effy and she was still coming to terms now with the fact that her brother was fine.

More than fine, he'd gotten his mind back, his brain. His previous vindictiveness however, was gone and Effy supposed that was for his own good.

Suddenly, without warning, Tony stood up "I've got class" he announced "Sid, can you?"

When Tony gestured to Effy, Effy felt a sudden rage course through her. Was _that _why Sid was here? To **babysit **her?

Effy glared up at Tony and Tony did a fairly good job of avoiding her eyes as Sid nodded wordlessly and went back to drinking his milk.

"I'll be back in about two hours, did you need anything?" Tony asked. He wasn't looking at her but Effy already knew the question was directed not only at Sid but at her too.

"You could get more milk" Sid said hopefully, Tony nodded and Effy glared harder as Tony finally set his eyes on her.

He seemed remorseless "Stay there" he told her "If you run, I'll find you"

Run. The idea made her laugh and if she hadn't been so pissed off, she would have. Where would she run? She was in Cardiff, this University was like a castle and though her brother confounded her sometimes, she knew Tony well enough to know he **would **find her. She wouldn't even make it to a train station.

"Are you just going to leave me alone with him?" Effy glanced over at Sid, who now had a milk moustache. She doubted she'd get far if she ran, but if she did pull something off, Sid wasn't going to be able to stop her. One thing Effy did know about him was that he was a monumental screwup.

"No" Tony replied, a tug on the corner of his mouth made Effy suspicious. Was that a smirk or the beginnings of a laugh?

"You're not a prisoner here Ef" Tony told her "And you should get some fresh air, feel your way around, find some new friends or something"

She felt like he was patronizing her but she couldn't say anything more because once he'd checked the clock again, he briskly grabbed his bag and left the room.

An awkward silence filled the room, Effy stayed right where she was and after a few moments, the silence was broken when Sid finally reached the bottom of the carton.

"Well" he said, putting down the now empty carton "Let's go for a walk Ef"

* * *

"Sorry, what was that again?" Katie was having a hard time.

Focussing on anything Matt said was a little hard for Katie at the moment. Not only because of the fact that he was taller than her, he was good to look at and his general presence was clouding her senses, but also because the fact that he was just there was a subtle reminder to Katie that just last year they'd all witnessed his sister jumping off a balcony and into the middle of the crowd where she immediately died on impact. Others had been completely devastated and thrown out of orbit by the event, but Katie - who was a firm believer in the fact that anyone who committed suicide should be brought back to life and killed again for the stupidity of their actions - had gone on as normal. How could she not? There were bigger things going on in _her _life and she didn't know the girl anyway.

Yet here he was, Sophia's brother, was standing before her and Katie couldn't think straight enough to focus on what the hell he was saying.

"I was wondering if you knew where Emily was" Matt asked again, by now he was starting to wonder whether or not Katie was on earth at all.

"Why did you need to find her?" Katie asked. It had confused her, in the two seconds she'd given it any thought, when Matt first came around looking for Emily. They seemed to have this thing about Sophia and Katie never quite found out what it was but she presumed it had led to the revelation that Naomi had slept with Sophia earlier. Why was he here again? Sophia was dead, what more could he want with Emily?

Matt shrugged, a simple careless motion that made Katie oddly weak at the knees "Was wondering if she wanted to go out for coffee or something"

And Katie suddenly came crashing down on earth. Was this guy an idiot? Dear God, Katie knew her gaydar was off balance, she hadn't figured out Emily was gay until it had to be shoved in her face but she thought this guy would have clued on right away.

Maybe he was as clueless as she was.

"Um...sorry" Katie frowned and shook her head to clear it "You do know she's **gay **right?"

"Pardon?"

"100% muff-muncher?" Katie looked at Matt like he was an idiot "Batting for the other team?"

Matt seemed to have understood the terms right away because he nodded and began backing off "Yeah I know, I know" he told Katie "I meant...as friends or something"

Katie didn't see much, but from the little she did see, she knew already that after Emily had found out Naomi had cheated, she didn't have much contact with Matt. If any.

"She's not here anyway" Katie told him again, she was now feeling a little pissed off he'd come here at all "She's with Naomi at her house. They're going away to Europe soon anyway"

Matt must have sensed Katie was pissed off because he started backing away a little more "Right then" he said "What was your name again?"

"Katie" she replied already heading back to the door

Matt watched her go back into the house, when she slammed the door behind herself, he stared at the house for a second longer. He didn't know where Naomi lived, truth be told, now that he knew Naomi was back in the picture with Emily, he didn't care to ever find out. After what Naomi did to Sophia, he couldn't really understand how Emily could ever forgive her.

But Matt's resentment towards Naomi was a little deeper than Emily's ever was so he supposed that must have had something to do with it. As he stared at the door where Katie had gone inside, a million thoughts raced through his troubled brain before he finally turned around and headed back down the street.

Katie Fitch.

Katie Fucking Fitch.

* * *

J.J. could hardly keep from yawning when Lara walked into the kitchen. Damn his lack of sleep, if he hadn't been yawning every two seconds, he'd have used that time to admire her legs. Lara had a thing for wandering around the kitchen in a shirt and black underwear. It was barely anything but J.J. thought she still looked wonderful.

She had long legs, a very cute face, blonde hair and eyes that not only had the power to stop J.J. in his tracks, but also reminded him how smart she really was. Lara figured things out on her own, she was stronger than he knew she was and sometimes it was quite daunting to J.J. how much power this girl did have. She took things at face-value and it didn't take her long to figure out what was good for her and what was bad. J.J. could still never forget the moment he first met Albert and she'd asked him to look after the baby whilst she got ready. That look of relief on her face when he said he would just confirmed she'd been slightly afraid of what he'd say. Would he run away?

"How many times did Albert cry at night?" Lara asked as she flicked the kettle on and shoved two pieces of bread into the toaster "Not more I hope"

"Just two" J.J. replied tiredly "He's getting better at sleeping through the night"

He didn't notice it right away due to his yawning and lack of focus but Lara was watching him. Her eyes wandered over his tired form and her mind began ticking away. She needed to work harder, earn more money to support Albert. Liam was helping, though he wasn't around all the time to look after Albert too, he did give her money where he could. Lara couldn't hold J.J.'s lack of funds against him, he was trying and it was harder to get a job now than it ever was before. He was also looking after Albert at the same time, which was something Lara felt incredibly grateful for. Liam couldn't be around all the time and Albert seemed to be taking to J.J. quite well.

Still, as she watched J.J. yawn again, she realised she was going to have to figure out another plan because she was no closer to that promotion than she was when she'd first decided she needed one.

"J.J." Lara said as she went to sit next to him, she watched his ever-confused eyes lift up to hers and she took his hand "How's this arrangement working out for you? I mean...you look pretty tired" and damn she felt guilty.

"I'm alright" J.J. said as he squeezed her hand and smiled "I mean...Albert does get up at night, but he's getting better at sleeping through. Maybe sometime soon, he'll sleep through the whole night. We're getting pretty close"

Not close enough. Lara's mind whirred as she tried to think of an alternative arrangement.

* * *

Cardiff University was crowded, this was the first thing Effy noticed the minute she stepped outside into the hallway.

Effy was good at hiding her emotions but given her recent mental breakdowns, she was finding it harder and harder to put her walls up. She blamed Freddie. Had it not been for him and all his understanding eyes, big lips and...height. She'd have been strong enough to put her usual walls up.

But as much as she blamed him, she did miss him. She missed the way his loving personality could turn so defensive and up in arms in a split second. She missed the way he'd drag Cook or J.J. to the shed if they needed to talk. She missed the way he used to take care of her when she couldn't. She didn't ask for that help and he didn't care whether she had or not, he was going to help her no matter what.

She thought he'd run away, but that book (which was probably somewhere in a drawer now that Tony had unpacked her bag) was proof that he wouldn't go away from her. She hadn't looked through all the pages, it was fairly straightforward anyway, but something must have happened to him. Something awful, she could feel it.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Sid asked as they navigated their way out of the hallways

"I was just wondering when you're going to fuck off and let me die in peace" Effy replied quickly and coldly. Sid must have been expecting it because he carried on as normal.

"Well, Cass is in a bit of a state at the moment. And I promised Tony, so I'll stay here for now thanks" Sid squeezed himself past two students who were blocking up the hallway talking to each other and carried on "Come on Ef. I'm not the bad guy here"

"Starting to wonder if you're a guy at all considering you ran away from a girl" Effy crossed her arms and wormed her way past the students.

"You'd run away from Cass too" Sid told her confidently "I love her and all, but since we got back from New York she's been on about starting our lives together. Gettin' married and stuff like that. I'd like to, but not next week like she's planning"

Effy had a feeling Cassie was planning a lot more than marriage but she didn't tell Sid. It was just a hunch. She didn't know Cassie too well but she did know that the girl changed perspectives and attitudes within the drop of a hat. She wasn't crazy without reason, there was a reason behind most of the things that Cassie did, it was just that other people didn't understand her too well. Sid tried, but even he didn't understand her. He still loved her, which seemed to work for them both anyway.

"She's uh...finally gotten around to talking about the night she ran away" Sid continued regardless of whether or not Effy was interested "She was there when Chris died...which I knew but...she wasn't alright after that"

"Funny that" Effy replied sarcastically "Seeing death might have a weird effect on people"

"Yeah" Sid led her outside into the courts and looked up at the blue sky "She'll be alright though. She's gotten round to talking about it, it's a good start right Ef?"

And with that, Effy finally understood what he was getting at. He wanted her to talk about what was bothering her. Not necessarily with him, but with someone. They fell into a comfortable silence now that they were out on the less crowded courts and started walking aimlessly around. Effy felt the cold breeze wrap around her and she rubbed at her arm. Her thoughts returned to Freddie and she started subconsciously digging her fingernails in her arm. He had to be alright, she had to believe that.

* * *

Harvard was much much bigger than Pandora had ever thought it would be. She knew finding Thomas would be hard but she didn't think it would be this hard.

She'd left her dorm room with good intentions, she'd gone around asking people if they'd seen a dark boy her age from the Congo who answers to the name Thomas. And when they said no - which they did - she then asked if they knew where the athletic tracks were because he'd probably be somewhere around there.

But none of them had been as kind as Marcel and though they pointed her towards the tracks, Pandora very quickly got lost.

The hallways looked the same no matter which direction she turned and the students milling in and out of rooms were starting to all look the same too. Pandora had wandered around for a good three hours, fourty five minutes and two seconds. She'd been counting.

Finally, as she came down another hallway which looked exactly the same as the one she'd just left, she groaned and looked up at the windows. It was starting to get dark outside. She wondered if she'd even be able to find her way back to her dorm room. At this rate, she wouldn't be surprised if she ended up sleeping in the damn hallway.

Leaning against the wall, Pandora watched a pair of students passing and slid down to sit on the floor. She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and fiddled around with it until she turned her camera up. The first picture on it was of Thomas. It was one she'd taken during Freddie's birthday party, Thomas stood with a beer in his hand. He had his cheesy smile on, his dark hair a little messy from when Cook had drunkenly ruffled it up before. J.J. was standing next to him with his arm around his shoulder and though the two looked perfectly inebriated, Pandora found it adorable.

She had to find him. Coming to Harvard had been for her own good but the knowledge that Thomas was here too was like a bonus. That was a bonus she wasn't going to go without.

She turned the camera off and quickly padded in a number before putting the phone to her ear and waiting for the cheery voice she knew was going to blast her ear in a moment.

"Hello darling!" came her mothers voice "Did you get there alright? Are you alright? Were you mugged?"

"I'm alrigh' mum" Pandora sighed, the questions from her mother made her feel oddly relieved instead of annoyed. At least she cared "I'm here and um...Harvard's great"

"That's wonderful" Angela replied, she sounded more relieved and relaxed now "So, when's your first class?"

"Tomorrow" Pandora looked up when a few students passed her. She didn't really know when her first class was, but telling Angela that was setting herself up for a lecture about organisation "Just wanted to let you know I'm alright"

Otherwise Angela would call her at some inconvenient time like two in the morning. Pandora knew for a fact that Angela wouldn't actually bother to think about something like timezones. Not when it came to something as important as checking up on her only daughter.

"Well I'm glad to hear it Pandora" Angela sighed in relief "I was having all sorts of fears about the plane and I've heard such horrible things about Americans..."

"Americans are fine mum, they're really nice" Pandora frowned, she'd heard those things too and she really only had Marcel to think about when she referred to Americans but she was sure others were nice too "I've gotta go mum"

She had to find her room. She'd already planned this in her mind. She'd find her room, meet her roommate (Assuming she had one there) and afterwards, she'd have to go to class and THEN find Thomas.

"I'll call you tomorrow alrigh'?" Pandora pulled herself back up to her feet and began making her way down the hallway. She had to find a student first, then find her room. Baby steps. Eventually, she'd find what she was looking for.

* * *

Emily and Naomi had a going away party at a local bar called Brimley's. It was an alright place, as far as bars went. Whoever designed it had Katie's blessing. A micture of purple and pink neon lights with black walls, black carpet and a wonderful sense this place was heated from the ground up because the moment she stepped inside, she was unusually warm.

"Katie!" Emily called from where she sat at the table with Naomi, Lara and J.J. Katie pulled her bag up on her shoulder and made her way over to the group. Once she sat down at the table, Naomi - who, as far as Katie could see, was already half gone - tapped at the table.

"Right" she said cheerfully "Another round on me?"

"Here, here" J.J. nodded, Lara smiled shyly and Katie couldn't really blame the girl for being a little shy. After all, she wasn't exactly part of the group but at least she was trying.

"So, tomorrow France?" Katie asked Emily as Naomi stumbled off to get the drinks

"Yep" Emily replied as J.J. followed Naomi to get the drinks for her before she dropped them all in her drunkeness "Tomorrow France" Emily continued "And then we're just gonna go backpacking from there"

"Which part of France?" Lara asked, she leaned on the table to better be in the conversation and continued "It's a pretty big place"

"Paris first" Emily replied simply "We've been there before so it shouldn't be too hard to go around. I'll pick up the language as we go, it'll be fun"

"I'm guessing you know a little though" Katie eyed her sister. She was sure Emily knew a little, considering how well their last trip to France had gone, but they had been lucky to run into mostly tourists. People in Frnace knew how to speak English anyway.

"Oui" Emily nodded and looked up when she saw J.J. carrying a tray of drinks back to the table "It'll be alright, that's what the experience is for anyway

"Right so..." J.J. brought the drinks down and handed them out "The only one not drinking alcohol would be me. Logically it doesn't make sense for me to drink when I know there's a baby at home who hasn't been able to sleep through the night yet"

Lara looked a little guilty about that and Katie watched her carefully. She seemed alright to Katie - who honestly hadn't been paying that much attention to J.J.'s love life - and if she hadn't seen how good J.J. was around Albert, she'd have thought that Lara was using J.J. as a free babysitter (and a free fuck...) but Lara had so far proven that she did care about J.J. and if Albert was waking up in the middle of the night, then she could only assume that, at least most of the time, it was J.J. who answered Albert's cries, not Lara.

"How is he?" Katie asked Lara "Albert"

"He's good" Lara replied simply "We're just having a little trouble from him at night. He's at home now with Liam"

"What have you guys been up to lately?" Katie continued

"Well" Lara looked a little confused at Katie's questioning but she answered anyway "I earn more so I'm working full time and getting in as much shifts as I can. I'm hoping to get promoted soon and earn more"

"And I look after Albert at home" J.J. finished for her and took her hand in a comforting manner. He caught Emily's suspicious look and quickly answered the question he could see brewing in her mind "I thought up the plan, I earn less and it works out really well for us so far"

Katie thought back to her own predicament. She hadn't forgotten what that doctor had told her. Premature Menopause.

Katie had never really given a lot of thought to her future but when she did, she always did figure that eventually she'd settle down, marry some rich, handsome guy and have babies. It was in her plans, she knew that. But now that she knew she wasn't going to have kids, she wondered if any man would even marry her with that in mind. Sure, if anyone had seen Katie when she'd just started at Roundview, they'd have immediately thought she wasn't the kind of girl who'd ever want babies. But truth be told, she played the wedding games with Emily when she was younger, she'd played the awkward mum and dad games.

She'd always thought that sometime...when she was rich and far less stupid...she'd have a kid of her own.

"Do you want me to babysit?" Katie asked

Lara coughed and choked on her drink and J.J. looked up at her in surprise.

"Um, what?" J.J. said, still staring at Katie as if she'd grown a second head

"Do you want me to babysit?" Katie asked again "I mean, I'm not doing anything right now and I really think it would help. J.J. could get a job and you could both earn without one of you having to stay home for Albert. I could babysit"

J.J. looked confused but Katie could see the well-oiled cogs in his mind whirring. Lara on the other hand, looked like she'd already made up her mind about her answer. She opened her mouth to reply and Emily pulled on Katie's arm.

"Katie" Emily hissed

Katie turned around and Emily pointed out a tall teenage boy standing in the corner of the bar. He was on his own, and they both recognised him.

"What's he doing here?" Katie frowned when she looked at Matt

"That's what I was wondering" Emily muttered. Katie could understand her tone, after all Matt didn't bring nice memories with him. He was like a constant reminder to Emily of the day she'd found out Naomi cheated on her with his sister. Still, she'd forgiven Naomi and seeing Matt was probably not the best for her right now.

"He's probably not here for you" Katie said as she watched Matt shuffle around, drink in his hand. He probably knew they'd seen him but he was trying to act clueless. Katie wondered if he knew what he was doing. The simple act of him standing, trying to pretend he didn't know the sisters were watching him, was absolutely adorable to Katie.

"I'll see what he wants" Katie petted Emily's hand "You should probably get going soon otherwise you'll miss your flight tomorrow"

"You'll see me off though right?" Emily watched Katie hop off her seat and Katie turned around.

"I'll see you and Naomi off tomorrow, I promise" Katie pulled Emily into a hug. It was sisterly love she didn't show a lot but she figured she should now. She knew she was going to miss Emily, her twin sister who'd been her loyal shadow for so long.

"Bye Katie!" Naomi waved

J.J. and Lara watched Katie as she walked off to the corner of the bar. J.J. was still trying to figure out whether or not they should accept Katie's offer but Lara had already made up her mind. She'd have to make sure Albert was good around Katie - and vice versa, but if it worked out, then Katie could be very useful. J.J. would be able to work, and maybe they'd be able to figure things out much faster. Katie's offer couldn't have come at a more perfect time.

Katie had precious few seconds to prepare herself before she talked to Matt. She didn't quite know who he was here for, but she did know he was here for one of them. Her or her sister. Either way, Emily didn't need to see him. He was a bad reminder to her, even though he hadn't actually done anything wrong. Katie was preparing herself for him in particular. Those eyes, his height, the fact that he even smelt good. He did strange things to her senses and Katie didn't like losing her control.

Though with him, she'd quickly found out that losing her control was an inevitable outcome.

"What are you doing?" Katie asked, her voice and tone coming off as tired when she approached him.

Matt turned around and Katie had to look up to see his eyes. Damn his height. Damn his eyes.

"If you're here for my sister, she's going tomorrow anywa-"

"I'm not" Matt cut her off and Katie blinked at him "I'm um" he looked down at his drink and Katie rose her eyebrow

"Don't pretend you came here for a drink alone" she almost snorted in amusement "Only sad freaks come to bars to drink alone"

Matt looked a little awkward for a second but he quickly composed himself and looked at her again. This time with certainty "I actually came here for you"

That stopped her. Katie's eyes went wide and she couldn't help but take in the whiff of cologne that came off him when someone left the bar and the breeze pushed his scent towards her. She didn't like it. She was in control when it came to guys, she was always in control. She was the one who initiated the relationship and she was the one who ended them.

Not even Freddie had much control around her. In fact he had none.

But Matt. No one had ever clouded her senses and made her speechless by simply standing there.

"Why?" Katie tried to sound like she was scoffing but she couldn't, she sounded confused.

Matt's eyes glanced up, over Katie's head and he could see Emily and Naomi were already leaving. Lara and J.J. were packing up as well. He looked back at Katie and his eyes softened. Katie didn't think she'd seen anything so beautiful.

"Can I buy you a drink?" Matt asked softly "Katie?"

Katie blinked and tried to think of some smartass reply. Something, anything that would put her back in control and let Matt know SHE had the pants here. But all she could manage was a nod. She felt Matt take her hand and lead her back to the bar and all she could do was follow him.

* * *

Effy couldn't stand outside much longer. Though Sid seemed alright. Since they'd gotten used to the cold, he'd been talking her ear off about his problems with Cassie, his previous problems with Michelle when they were all still in Bristol and how odd it was to see now that they were all out of school and out on their own.

Effy really really wished people were born without the need to talk. It would make life that much easier for her.

"Can we go back now?" Effy sighed boredly and made a point of folding her arms. She felt immature but since she was dealing with Sid, she figured it was appropriate enough.

Sid scanned the courts of students and nodded "Yeah we'll go back now. Maybe Tony's finished his class...hope he got the milk..."

Effy tuned him out. She turned around and made her way back inside. She already knew how to get back to Tony's room. After all that was one thing she did know about herself, she only needed to scan a place down once before she knew her way around it. She never got lost. She could hear Sid's rambling as she walked down the hallway and she rolled her eyes, Tony must have known. He must have had a little laugh to himself when he thought about leaving Effy with Sid for the day.

Effy quickly turned down the hallway and stopped when a girl almost ran into her.

"Shit! Sorry!" the girl stumbled and grabbed the wall before she bumped completely into Effy.

Effy recognised her. This was the girl who'd run past her earlier. She stuck out more simply because she was darker than the blondes she hung out with. When the girl composed herself, she looked up at Effy and Effy could see her mind working as she recognised her too.

"Hey" she frowned "You're Tony's sister right?"

"You know my brother?" Effy rose her eyebrow. She wondered if Tony was fucking around because this girl seemed a bit younger than him. She looked younger than even Effy.

"Yeah, um, I take a tutorial with him here and there" she blinked at Effy and held out her hand "I'm Chloe"

Effy considered leaving her hand alone but something in her told her that she could trust Chloe. Maybe it was her subconscious or something, but there was actually nothing about Chloe that said she was dangerous, threatening or even remotely harmful. She had a calm aura around her that Effy found strange but oddly warming.

"I'm Effy" Effy took her hand and gave it a small shake before going back to folding her arms. But just as fast as her feeling to be nice had appeared, it disappeared and she continued "Tony brought me here to stop me killing myself again, he's going to chain me up on my bed tonight to make sure I don't hang myself with the sheets"

To finish it off, Effy shot her a cold_ 'want to know me now?'_ look and Chloe blinked. A confused look appeared on her face again and Effy read her perfectly as Chloe was trying to figure out whether or not Effy was joking.

She seemed almost relieved when Sid finally appeared.

"Bloody hell Ef" Sid panted "I thought you'd done a runner with how fast you were walking. Next time, could you slow down?"

"See you around" Effy said to Chloe and she walked around her to get to Tony's room.

She could hear Sid saying something to Chloe but at this point she was past caring as she pushed the wood of the door open and wandered into the room.

Only to walk right in on a tall guy around Tony's age standing butt-naked in the middle of the room. Effy stopped in the doorway, her eyes accidentally meeting the large organ between his legs before she looked up at his face. He was tall, tanned, well built with short brown hair, bright green eyes and probably the most annoying smug grin on his face when he realised Effy had seen him naked.

This must be Tyler.

* * *

It took about 8 redirections from several different students, two hours and a blister but finally Pandora found her room again.

Pushing the door open, all she wanted to do now was sleep. She was pretty content to sleep though her first class tomorrow too. She didn't think she'd be too beaten up about that either considering she'd probably spent the good part of today getting lost and asking for directions from several students. Each one looking more American than the last.

So, as Pandora entered the room, all she wanted was her bed.

What she found, was a skinny, redheaded girl sitting on the other bed.

"Oh my god, there you are, I thought you'd gotten lost" the girl said as Pandora entered the room. The girl got up and hurried to close the door behind Pandora before turning to her with a big smile. Pandora couldn't help but scan the girl. She was very skinny, and very short. She had red hair tied into childish plaits on either side of her head. She wore large blue glasses and Pandora was fairly sure she'd seen braces when she spoke.

"I'm Cassidy" she said in an annoyingly high voice. Pandora tried not to judge her as she shook her hand happily and plastered a smile on her face

"I'm Pandora" she replied cheerfully

"I know, it says your name on your suitcase" Cassidy pointed to Pandora's flowery suitcase sitting on her bed and went back to her own bag Pandora watched as Cassidy pulled out a piece of paper and stuck it on the door.

"Now I've done rooming before" Cassidy said quickly "And I'm not saying you're a slob or anything but I've prepared some rules to follow in our room. We can keep it clean and tidy okay?" she seemed overly cheerful about this. Pandora shrugged, she'd been tidy all her life and she was sure a messy room would drive her crazy too.

"I've already sorted out my food in our fridge there" Cassidy pointed to the little fridge she and Pandora had to share "I've labelled all my food and drinks and I hope you'll respect that"

Okay, this was getting a little weird but Pandora was sure she could manage.

"Also" Cassidy continued "I'm a light sleeper so if you're going to be in and out all night going to parties and stuff like that, we might have a problem"

"Oh I don't..." Pandora stopped there. She knew she wasn't innocent of going out and getting drunk, much less of coming back home and making a mess as she stumbled over something. But she didn't have her friends here, maybe she wouldn't have the chance to get like that "I'm sure we can make this thing work then"

"Great!" Cassidy grinned and turned around to find her pyjamas. She headed to the door so she could change in the bathrooms but before she left, she turned around and looked at Pandora "One more thing" she said "I'm really allergic to flowers or even looking at flowers, so if you could put your suitcase under your bed and cover it with a blanket, I'd be really thankful"

She didn't wait for an answer as she left the door and closed it behind her.

Pandora was left standing there alone, to process what had just happened. Pandora looked over at her flowery suitcase and realised that she had a lot of clothes and things that were flowery too. She liked flowers.

She shook her head and pulled her suitcase off her bed before lazily pushing it underneath her bed so Cassidy couldn't see it. Pandora then flopped on her bed and closed her eyes. Living with Cassidy was going to be interesting. She could already tell.

* * *

J.J. was asleep. Finally. As Lara watched him sleeping soundly in bed, she stayed where she was.

She couldn't go to sleep. Not tonight. Liam had already left and Albert was still sleeping for now but Lara wanted to be the one to pick Albert up tonight. She figured J.J. really needed his sleep now.

She went to his side of the bed and disconnected the baby monitor before leaving their room and walking down the hallway to Albert's room. She didn't enter, just stayed outside his door so she'd be near if he started crying.

Lara's mind had been whirring into action ever since Katie made her offer and on the whole, it wasn't a bad offer. Lara checked the clock and decided that though it was late, this really couldn't wait.

She picked up J.J's phone from the table and found Katie's number before calling her up.

"J.J. this better be good" came Katie's tired voice.

Lara smiled and walked around the hallway "Katie, this is Lara" she said clearly "I was wondering when you could start"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thank you all so much for the reviews! (they keep this writer humming along with the inspiration to write)

Keep reviewing and I'll have the next chapter up and running as soon as possible! Tell me what you think because I'm on a mission to tie up as many loose ends as I see so I'm actually trying to end Skins nicely instead of...well...the way it ended.

Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Wait! Effy! Wait!" Pandora panted whilst running down the pathway out of Westfield College for Young Ladies "Madame Deluca says we have to be friends!"

"I don't have friends" Effy replied coldly, her legs purposefully strolling her out of the school as fast as she could without looking too unco-ordinated like Pandora

"Great!" Pandora continued as she caught up with Effy "I don't have any either! Isn't that great?"

She had to think quickly. Pandora knew absolutely no one in this school and thanks to her mothers hairstyling, she already looked somewhat like a clown and she knew it. Frizzy hair, second-hand jersey and ink on her teeth (though that last part was caused by her) from the moment she entered the school, she already knew she was going to be eaten alive.

Unless she got a friend.

"I can do something you can't do!" she finally said, and when she saw Effy stop walking, she knew she had her interest at least.

Effy turned around and looked at Pandora with a slight hint of disbelief in her eyes. She'd been able to keep her reputation up for years as the cold but calculating Effy Stonem. She did everything, never backed down and never said no. Who was this strange girl to challenge her.

"There's nothing I can't do" she replied with a certainty she felt all the way through her.

"You can't do this" Pandora continued "If it's good enough, can I be your friend? I've got my rope and everything!"

As her hand sifted through her bag looking for the rope she, once again, caught Effy off guard. Surprising her wasn't an easy feat and Effy doubted Pandora knew that she'd managed to surprise her twice in the course of ten seconds.

Pandora didn't waste any time, she was soon up in the tree explaining to Effy that she could jump off and take her bra off without unbuttoning anything. As she prepared herself in the tree, Pandora's thoughts quickly shifted not only to what she was doing, but also to the girl down on the ground. This school wasn't going to be easy. She was only set to be there for one year and already she knew if she didn't find some way to survive the year, she was going to move schools - again. There was no man in her life, only her mother who insisted that boys were only after one thing and one thing only. Still, with only the two of them, her mother was dead set on making sure Pandora kept well away from boys as long as she could help it - and that she got the finest education.

Still the idea of an all girls school - especially one filled with that many rich girls - intimidated Pandora. The moment she saw Effy, she knew that girl knew how to look after herself.

So all she had to do was impress her, be her friend and stick by her.

Effy just looked like she knew what she was doing. Way more than she did.

"I'm ready!" Pandora called, she looked down to see Effy wandering around with a boy but Pandora didn't think too much on it.

No. By the time Effy saw her do this, she was going to like her. There was no way she couldn't.

"One...two...three!"

* * *

"Effy"

Effy snapped out of her reverie and realised where she was.

She was in Cardiff. Tony was standing in front of her looking at her like she'd just passed out...but somehow she was still standing. Sid was standing in the doorway behind her. And a naked Tyler was standing behind Tony putting his underwear on.

Effy blinked for a moment and reached her hand up to gently take Tony's hand off her shoulder.

"I've got to take my medication" she mumbled quietly so only Tony could hear her.

Tony nodded and without a word, went to his drawers to find them.

"Sorry about that" Tyler smirked as he pulled his jeans on "Wasn't expecting anyone to come in here"

"Do you always wonder around the room butt-naked?" Sid's voice sounded a little amused and confused at the same time. Had Effy been paying attention, she'd have appreciated the fact that it was people like Sid and Pandora who could mix those two emotions so easily into one sentence.

Tony returned to her and discreetly pushed her dosage into her hand. Effy waited as he grabbed a glass of water and handed it to her and she wasted no time as she shoved the pills into her mouth and downed the water. Tyler watched her and cocked his head "What's that?"

There was no way he could possibly be allowed to know there was something in the room he could steal and snort (or distribute) so Tony thought fast.

"Stuff to make her forget the last ten minutes" he said cooly. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tyler raising his eyebrow and going over to the fridge "Kind of want her to forget she's seen your knob"

"Trust me" Tyler laughed as Tony gently pushed Effy out of the dorm and towards the door "No amount of pills is going to make her forget- hey who drank all the milk?"

Tony closed the door behind him and turned to Sid "Alright, so my lecture got in the way and I didn't plan this through" he sighed.

Effy frowned. That wasn't like Tony. Wasn't like him at all to be so unorganised. What did he mean he didn't plan this through?

"t'salright" Sid shrugged "She can stay with us"

"Wait. What?" Effy swivelled around and looked up at Tony in disbelief "You didn't think _that _through?"

It was very unlike him not to have realised earlier that she was going to need somewhere to sleep. Granted, she hadn't been thinking about that when she followed Tony to Cardiff but she was the one in a headspace here and she'd trusted he had a better plan.

"I'll think it through" Tony assured her "But for now, it's late and we need to sleep"

"I'm not going over there on my own" Effy snapped, not caring that Sid was right behind her. In her opinion she was justified in setting her groundrules here. She knew Sid and she knew Tony trusted him. But she also knew Cassie was a nutter and if she had to be truly honest with herself, she'd have realised ages ago that when Tony left for Cardiff she missed him. She missed him a lot.

To only have spent half a day with him - most of which was spent fighting with her mother - she didn't want to let go of him so soon. Even if it was only for a night.

With no Freddie and none of her friends around her. Effy had never felt so alone. That, and her random flashback of the person she missed the most (beside Freddie...) rattled her to her very core. What was that all about anyway? Since when did she get random flashbacks?

Tony's sigh of resignation signalled she'd won this fight and Effy kept her smirk at bay "Sid-"

"There's a spare room, you'll both fit in there" Sid nodded and began to lead the way out of the University "You two can just come back here in the morning"

As they headed out of the University, Effy watched Sid lead the way and glanced over at Tony walking beside her. Slowly, her hand found his and she gave it a small squeeze as she held it firmly in hers. It was comfort, strength and safety. All of which was coming from Tony.

And as they got out of the University and headed out through the night towards Sid's car, Effy felt Tony's fingers close over hers. For the first time in ages, Effy felt safe.

* * *

A storm was brewing. Thunder and lightening seemed like a possibility in the next hour and already the rain was getting heavier at 6 in the morning when Katie rushed into the airport.

Shaking the water from her hair, she huffed and looked down at her soaked clothes. There was no point, she was already soaked.

"Why" Katie said as she heard J.J coming up behind her "Is their plane taking off at six in the fucking morning?"

"Airport times, best to get out early" J.J. shook his bushy hair of the water and looked down at his soaked top "So...what's the plan?"

Katie led the way through the people milling around and headed for the departures station "See Emily and Naomi off, then I'll follow you back home and start babysitting Albert"

"Yes. Right" J.J stumbled past a rushing American woman who gave him a glare and tried to keep up with Katie "Why is that again?"

"Because I need something to do, and you need a job" Katie didn't even turn around to look at him, she was too busy looking around the busy airport for a sign, a glimpse of her redheaded sister and her blonde shadow. She didn't have anything against Naomi. After the sobering experience of last year, she'd come to terms with the fact that Naomi actually wasn't that bad of a choice for Emily. In fact, Emily could have done worse and she didn't.

Sure. Katie still held a grudge against Naomi. After all, Emily had been her shadow once. Followed her where ever she went, let her make all the decisions. She was hers and Katie enjoyed having control of something in her life. Even if that something was her doormat sister.

But Katie had also come to the realisation that Emily would have detached herself from her even without Naomi. She was just stronger like that. She was the lucky one. She was the one who actually had someone to love her. Last year had been horrible on Katie. Partly because of her revelation that she was unable to have children, but also because no one wanted her.

She thought she wanted Thomas for awhile there - and she did - but he was taken and by God she hoped Pandora had found him in Harvard and was treating him right.

That boy deserved everything - so Katie thought.

"Katie!" Emily waved her sister over and pulled her into a hug once Katie pushed her way through the crowd "You made it. And just in time too, they just called our flight"

"Sorry, the traffic was..." Katie shook her head and looked over Emily "Are you sure your plane will even stay up in this weather?"

"Well they haven't cancelled it" Naomi shrugged and pulled her bag up on her shoulder "So I figure that's a good sign at least"

"We are making it to France, come hell or high water" Emily added with a determined swagger to her step (was that determined, or was that drunk?)

Katie had a feeling Emily hadn't stopped drinking, even after she left the pub. She saw no real harm in that anyway, after all they were going to be on a plane and she'd probably be jetlagged once they hit France that she'd just sleep in the hotel for the first night there.

No harm done.

Naomi seemed much more sober as she pulled their tickets out of her pocket and smiled at J.J. "We'll keep in touch"

"Via email" J.J. nodded "Mail is more personal but quite ineffective on a time-related basis"

"Keep us informed if you find anything out about Cook or Freds" Naomi's tone got serious and both Katie and J.J. nodded. Naomi wasn't known for being best friends with Cook but of the lot of them, she was the one who wasn't in the Musketeers but got along with him better. She didn't show it and she didn't like showing it but she was very worried about Cook. A sick feeling pressing against her, almost as if something bad really had happened to him.

"He's probably fine" Emily carried on for Naomi "But if he turns up-"

"We'll let you know" Katie finished and rubbed Emily's shoulder "Go on, go before you miss the plane"

"Au Revoir you two" J.J. waved. He and Katie stayed and watched as Naomi pulled herself and her drunk girlfriend onto the plane. And with that, their plane was off into the hailing skies as the beginnings of thunder and lightening began to hit the skies.

* * *

Pandora's alarm needed to be replaced.

For starters, it was a bug-shaped alarm with wide eyes and green designs. It had little wire hands sticking out on either side of it. She'd got it for her fifteenth birthday. It had since been thrown against the wall, hit, smacked, kicked and thrown out windows because of it's incessant ringing. The alarm went off at different times and Pandora had since lost the manual on how to make it stop.

Still, she'd taken the bloody thing with her to Harvard and - as she should have predicted - it didn't ring when she was meant to wake up.

So, she woke up late.

"Piss, shit and bollocks!" Pandora hissed to herself as she hopped around her room pulling her clothes on. Her first lecture, appropriately law, and she was already about ten minutes late.

Grabbing her bag, Pandora snatched her map up and quickly ran out the door. Once outside, she pulled her bag on and looked over the map to see where her class was. There was a nagging voice in the back of her head that told her the chances of her getting lost - right now - were large. Still, she traced her finger along the paper and looked around the halls before taking a chance and running down the left direction.

As she ran - and tried her best to avoid smacking into other students - Pandora's thoughts went to her dream she'd had the night before.

It was random. She'd never dreamt about something from the past before, yet last night as she slept in her bed with sore feet, she'd dreamt of the first time she met Effy and impressed her by jumping off a tree with a rope around her foot.

It was simple trickery from Circus School. Pandora could still remember going there at the request of her mother. There'd been interesting people there, which was just as well because she fit right in with them. There were usless girls, useless teachers and even more useless counsellors and yet they all fit together in one school because it just...for one reason or another...worked. Kind of like Harvard, Pandora thought as she raced through the halls, all these people out to learn law, psychology or something that sounded incredibly smart.

When it came right down to it, all these people shared the common goal of getting somewhere. And maybe getting shitfaced along the way.

When she finally found her room, Pandora pushed it open and looked in to see the largest lecture theatre she'd ever laid her eyes on. It had wide wooden panel walls, benches as far as it could go and a teacher standing at the front with a microphone attached to the ear as she pointed to the large blackboard.

What Pandora also noticed were the thousands of students who'd suddenly looked her way because she was late.

"Uh" Pandora looked over at the lecturer who was now quiet and expectantly waiting for her to take her seat "Sorry, got lost"

The lecturer, who was a stick thin woman with ginger hair and large spectacles, gestured to the benches and Pandora quickly made her way up the steps, her eyes going left to right as she tried to find a free seat.

How many people had to take law anyway?

Seeing no seats at the top of the theatre, Pandora was just about to consider sitting on the damn steps when a voice called her out.

"Pandora" said the male voice. Sounded familiar.

Pandora turned around and looked down right at the front of the hall to see Marcel gesturing to the spare space beside him. In fact, it was bare all around him, no one was sitting next to him at all. Pandora headed back down the steps and sat down next to him as the lecturer carried on.

"Thanks" Pandora muttered to Marcel "It's so crowded in here"

"First year students for law" Marcel smiled at her and flicked through his book "Generally is"

She wondered why no one was sitting next to him and wondered if that would even be a polite question to ask. But she soon found she didn't have to.

"...to demonstrate...Marcel could you?" the lecturer turned to the rest of the hall and gestured to Marcel "This is my assistant, Marcel Moyland"

Pandora watched as Marcel stood up, her mind comprehending this, or trying to. Marcel wasn't a student at all, or if he was, he wasn't a new one. She already knew he was no newbie but she'd assumed he was at least in his second year of study, maybe even his third. But he was the assistant? Pandora didn't know how it worked out, the politics of it all but when she looked back down at the bench she was seated at she suddenly understood why no one else was sitting next to him.

All the notes, and therefore the answers to some of the questions the lecturer was shooting, were all here. Pandora looked back up as Marcel helped the lecturer on the board and her head swam as he leaned up to draw a graph as the lecturer was explaining something. What she was explaining was irrelevant, Pandora could hardly hear her. Nor could she comprehend her words. She was far too busy watching Marcel's long arms reaching up to draw on a clear space on the board, his shirt riding up a little to give her an almost cruel glimpse of the muscles underneath, his six pack just showing for her eyes only. Pandora felt her mouth go dry, her head go blank and her eyes could not move.

Dear Sweet Jesus she was in trouble.

* * *

It was the sound of a vaccum cleaner that woke Effy.

The sound of a loud hoover sucking up crumbs from the floor made Effy wish she'd stayed in Bristol. What was here for her in Cardiff? Other than her brother and the idea of getting away from the disappearances of both Freddie and Cook?

Aside from those two pluses that Cardiff offered, what else was there?

She reluctantly opened her eye as her mind remembered she was lying on a bouncy, squeaky bed in a spare room Sid and Cassie had in their flat. It was only a two bedroom flat, one kitchen, one bathroom and bugger all space to move about but Effy didn't really care. Last night she was so tired she wouldn't have given a damn if Sid and Cassie lived in a fucking shack. So long as they had a bed, even a moth eaten mattress, she'd have been content.

Though now she was wishing they had a shack so they wouldn't feel the need to clean at so early an hour.

Effy was vaguely aware of the fact that she was in the bed alone. She had slept here last night with Tony nearby. She fell asleep before him but she was fairly certain he hadn't left her side all night. Maybe he'd even slept in the same bed, it was hard to tell with Tony. He loved her, she knew that, but she wasn't sure what his policy on looking after her was. He knew she'd tried committing suicide once before, that was enough to make him want to watch her all the time, but she wasn't sure if he was ready to climb into bed with her and stay with her like he had when they were younger.

Heck, even when they were younger, the brother and sister had come to a mutual understanding that they were both strong enough to handle their own shit.

Sitting up, Effy rubbed at her face and looked around the room. Flowery fading wallpaper, some of it peeling, small window which led to a view of other houses stacked up one against the other. Brown carpet, some bags stacked up against the wall with badges from New York attached to them. Effy quickly became aware of the fact that not only was she in this bed alone, she was in the _room _alone. A sudden panic rose up in her as she wondered where the hell Tony had gone now. Any rational mind would have probably come to the conclusion that he'd gone into the kitchen to get breakfast or that he'd gone to the bathroom even but Effy's mind wasn't rational. Not after what happened in the hospital. She was so sure she'd fallen asleep with Freddie's hand in hers and when she woke up, it was her mother sitting beside her bed, not Freddie.

She never saw Freddie again.

Was that what was going to happen to Tony? She couldn't be too crazy for thinking so, Cook had gone missing too.

In a panic, Effy took her phone out from her pocket and checked for messages. None. No one had found Cook. No one had found Freddie. Her breathing began to quicken and she was starting to lose the ability to breathe normally as she found she just couldnt' get out of this bed. Someone was after them. No. More specifically, someone was after her, and taking out those closest to her.

Freddie had been close. Cook was after that. What if Tony-

Before her mind could get more carried away than it already had, the door opened and Tony came through with a plate of bacon and eggs on toast. Effy watched as he set it on the end of the bed and looked over at her.

"You alright?"

She knew that tone, Tony could read her like a book no one else understood. Sometimes it was like he was in her head. Once upon a time, Effy had that same ability...until she went mad.

Sometimes she wondered if she could have benefitted from being hit by a bus as well.

"No" Effy shook her head and took a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding "No Tony, I'm not"

* * *

Of all the flights.

Of all the fucking flights leaving Bristol, they had to get the one that attempted to leave in the middle of a storm. And thus, as a consequence, couldn't get as far and ended up having to stop in London to wait for the weather to improve.

Naomi placed her glass back on the bench, it was only her second drink. In comparison to how many shots Emily was downing, she looked like an angel. Naomi looked over at her girlfriend and watched her down yet another shot, her red hair now sticking to her forehead, her eyes somewhat shadowed and her cheeks red. They weren't far from the airport, having only managed to get to the hotel nearby and go straight to the bar. Emily had wanted to land in France, to quell her disappointment about only getting so far as London, Naomi took her to a bar, and the redhead had been drinking ever since.

Since this was adding to the amount of drinks she'd had before they left Bristol, she could safely say now that Emily was completely shitfaced.

"Well" Naomi sighed and looked at the rain outside the window "When it subsides, we can get on the plane and head to France. Until then, I'd say we're stranded"

"Fucking storm..." Emily bitterly tapped the bench for another shot and thankfully missed the signal Naomi gave the bartender that clearly said _'she's had enough, ignore her'_

"Think it'll clear tonight at all?" Naomi asked, though immediately afterwards she wondered why she was asking. Emily wouldn't be able to give her a straight answer in this condition.

"Dunno" Emily replied, just proving Naomi's thoughts "Don't think so"

A thud made Naomi look around and she noticed Emily's head planted in the bench. She resisted rolling her eyes, great. What was she going to do about her now? It had been Emily's idea to go to the bar, sure, but Naomi knew she could have stopped her. Should have stopped her.

"Fuck" Naomi muttered as she tapped Emily's shoulder and tried to think of what they could do now. Clearly the storm wasn't going to pass tonight, and in any case the next flight out of London was tomorrow morning. So she could pick her up and carry her ass back to the airport, sleep on the chairs or something...or maybe...

"She's out cold" came a male voice, Naomi looked up to see the person sitting on the other side of Emily was a boy at least a year or two older than them. He had short brown hair, cute green eyes and a slightly amused grin on his face. Naomi wasn't really into profiling but there was something about this guy that screamed gay. Maybe it was because he was dressed up in the middle of a bar where people didn't make the effort to look clean but there was something about him that didn't belong. Not here. Not in this bar.

"Yeah" Naomi looked back down at her girlfriend and gently ran her hand through her hair, pulling the strands away from her face "She's gonna feel it in the morning. Just hope this storm subsides"

The guy looked up at the window where the rain was only worsening and looked back to Naomi. He held out his hand "I'm James"

"Naomi" she shook his hand and gestured at her girlfriend "This is Emily"

James smiled down at her "Hello Emily" he said, despite both of them knowing Emily wouldn't hear him "So what are you two doing here?"

Naomi frowned, did they look out of place as well? "Excuse me?"

"Well..." he gestured to their carryon bags sitting next to them "Your bags...the fact that we're near an airport...the storm. You're obviously not from around here"

Either he was very observant, or he was pulling guesses out of thin air. Naomi didn't feel quite threatened though, as she shrugged "We were headed to France. Storm made the plane go down and we've now gotta wait it out"

"Bummer" James looked down at Emily again and back up to the window where the storm was progressing "Well...I know this must be a little weird because I just met you and all but, it doesn't look like this storm is gonna pass soon. You're not from around here and...frankly the prices of these hotels is daylight robbery. So. If you want, you can stay at mine tonight"

Naomi watched him carefully and James shrugged "Nothing more than a friendly offer. I'm not from round here either but my partner and I have a flat nearby here...I won't charge you"

She had to think about this. Naomi hated having to be the rational thinker here, that was Emily's forte...usually. But she had to trust her instincts because she knew nothing about this James. He seemed harmless enough, nice smile and all, he wasn't much older than them and she didn't think she'd have to worry about him doing anything to her or Emily, because he seemed quite gay to her. She hadn't been wrong yet about those instincts. She could tell from most people whether they were gay or straight, wasn't by appearances only, just a thing she could tell. About everyone but herself it seemed. And Emily really needed somewhere to sleep, somewhere that was more comfortable than the bench in the middle of the bar.

That, and yes money was a little short here. They weren't prepared for situations like these.

"Yeah..." Naomi nodded and looked up at James "Alright then, can't hurt"

James smiled wide and for a moment, Naomi had to wonder if anyone could think of him as threatening. There was just nothing harmful about him at all.

Jesus she was profiling him.

"Let's get her up then, carry her to my car" James got off the barstool to help out. Naomi picked their bags up and strapped them to her shoulders before helping James pick Emily up and carry her out of the bar and out into the rain. James led her to his car where they put Emily in the backseat along with some of the bags. With that done, Naomi got into the passenger seat and watched as James got into the drivers seat and quickly drove them out of the parking lot.

"Don't worry" James smiled, as if he could tell Naomi was still at least 3% uncertain about him "I don't bite"

* * *

"I'm trying to get him into a routine of napping in the middle of the day. Bottle is in the fridge, heat the milk up and test it on your wrist. Obviously, don't smoke around him..." Lara listed off the things Albert needed as she wandered around the kitchen to grab her things before she could head off to work.

Although she was saying all the things Katie already knew, Katie stayed quiet and followed Lara around the kitchen. A smile on her face as she saw J.J. tiredly sipping from his coffee while he waited for her to hurry up so they could leave.

"I've left my number on the fridge and it's probably not gonna happen but if Liam comes round, give him my number and tell him to top up his fucking phone" Lara picked her keys up and looked over at Katie "Did I miss out anything?"

"Lara, if we don't leave in ten seconds, we're going to be late" J.J. checked his watch "Fourteen seconds to be precise...okay twelve"

"I'll be fine with Albert, don't worry" Katie took Lara's empty cup out of her hand and gently led the blonde to the door "I'll call you if I need anything"

They seemed to be satisfied with that answer, Lara nodded and headed out the door "Thank you Katie"

"Yes" J.J. put his cup away and followed Lara out "Thank you Katie"

Katie closed the door after them and sighed as she went to check on Albert. He was asleep, sound asleep in his cot, he wasn't going anywhere. As Katie watched him, she could hear the doctors words in her head again.

_"Katherine. The menopause prevents you from ovulating...which means you won't be able to conceive babies"_

She'd been in shock. She'd had her time to think it over and Katie had to admit, now as she looked over Albert slobbering all over himself, she was okay with it now. In her future, she couldn't see kids, but now she was starting to wonder if she'd ever see a guy in there too.

For awhile there she'd imagined Freddie in there, and in her dreams maybe Thomas. But something in her was stopping her from thinking that future with Matt. Early days yes, but Katie was the sort of girl who was full on, especially with her boyfriends. She wasn't sure if Matt was her boyfriend yet or not, but by the way he kept looking at her last night, ordering drinks for her and eventually walking her home, he had something for her. Katie couldn't be blind to that.

Damn him and his height, his cool eyes, his entire being radiated a sense that he was not only interested in her but he was also holding back for some reason. Keeping himself at a comfortable distance and Katie wasn't sure she liked it yet. She wasn't sure if she really liked the fact that she couldn't think straight around him. To an extent, it was probably a masochistic part of her that liked the fact he stole her thoughts (and a few heartbeats) when he looked at her with those haunted eyes, but to another degree it made her feel like she had when she was dating Dani. Fucking Dani. Her days of being a W.A.G. were over and she'd be damned if she was returning to them. She was once a giggly girl but she'd since gotten stronger, she'd been hit with a rock, she'd fought with Dani's previous girlfriend (whom she last heard had become his ex...) she'd gone through a multitude of shit from France to Italy but she had come out of it better (at least she hoped so)

A sound made her look down as Albert yawned and turned his head to the side. Katie watched him for a moment longer before pulling her phone out and heading out of the bedroom so she wouldn't wake Albert at least. She pulled her phone out and looked over the contacts, the highlight landing on Freddie's number. Katie froze. Where was he? Something told her that bad shit had gone down with him and she couldn't repress the sick feeling something (or someone) had gotten to him. As she headed down the contacts, it landed on Matt.

Again she froze. If she called him now would she seem desperate? They'd been drinking last night and when he walked her home, they hadn't even kissed. Which was sensible of him, she supposed. If it wasn't for his eyes and the power he had over her, she'd be fucking bored with a drink and a walk home. Katie stared at his name, the flashbacks of Sophia and what she'd done was steadily returning to her. She wasn't sure what to think of Matt, he wasn't like any other guy she'd ever been with.

She'd yet to decide if this was good or bad.

* * *

"So Pandora" Marcel was saying as he put her cup of de-caffeinated latte on the table and sat with her "Have you been to America before?"

"Once with my mum" Pandora shrugged "We went up here for a holiday...though she seemed more stressed by just coming up here"

She looked around. They were seated in the middle of one of the many cafeterias on the campus. A bustle of students filing in and out, chatting at tables or lounging on the grounds outside could be seen and yet for some reason, she felt like she was alone here with Marcel. She couldn't help but wonder what Thomas would think if he could see the two of them together. Nothing was going to happen (Pandora was at least 40% sure of that) but she still felt like she was cheating in a way. Maybe it was because ever since she'd found Marcel, she'd stopped looking for Thomas but she was tired, her brain hurt from her last lecture and to be honest, Harvard was fucking huge and she couldn't find him.

It was like looking for a needle in a haystack...which was strange because if she had to describe Thomas, she certainly wouldn't refer to him as a _needle_.

"...Pandora?" Marcel tilted his head and Pandora suddenly realised he'd been talking all this time and had now realised she wasn't listening to him.

"Sorry" Pandora went pink and looked down at her cup "I was just thinking...I came here also to look for someone"

Marcel's eyebrows knitted in curiosity and he looked at her "Who?"

Pandora didn't want to admit she had a boyfriend. She didn't know what she and Thomas were right now but at the very least, they were friends. He didn't even know she was coming here, let alone attending Harvard.

"A friend" she replied, feeling a little bad, as if she'd betrayed Thomas in some way "He came here from Bristol as well. I didn't tell him I was coming here...wanted to surprise him"

"Did he get here on a History Scholarship too?"

For a moment, Pandora wondered how Marcel knew but her mind quickly reminded her it had come up in earlier conversation "Um" she blinked, she had to look down a little, damn those eyes but when she looked at them her thoughts went right out the window "No" she blushed and grabbed her cup "He got here on an athletic scholarship I think"

Marcel simply smiled, Pandora didn't know if he'd caught on that she was feeling a little conflicted right now but with those damn eyes, he could be thinking about anything and she'd be the last to know about it. "Well, Harvard is pretty big" his finger ran over the top of his cup and Pandora couldn't help but stare at it "The athletic part is a whole other section for itself. If I had to look anywhere though, I'd stick to cafes and restaurants. Athletes have to eat at some point right?"

Pandora smiled, Thomas was a good eater, that much she did remember. However for some reason, her resolve to find Thomas was dwindling. She wanted to stay here a little longer, get to know Marcel.

She didn't need to find Thomas right away right?

* * *

When Effy wandered into the lounge, she caught sight of Cassie standing precariously atop an ill balanced chair, trying to dust something in the corner of her shelf. A quick scan around the lounge proved, more than anything, that Cassie's organisational skills had actually gotten worse (or better if you liked organisation...)

Everything on the shelves were organised from size to alphabetical to colour. Effy wasn't quite sure how Cassie managed it but not a jar, or book or box was out of place. They were all neatly stacked, sorted and placed on the shelves along the walls, bookcases and counters.

She then looked to how Cassie was standing on the chair and wondered why, if Cassie was going to have to be so careful about organising things, she wasn't quite as careful when it came to safety.

"Cass!" Sid sped out of the kitchen and went to hold the chair still "What the hell are you doing?"

Cassie looked down, her hair curtaining her face as she looked at Sid as though he'd asked the dumbest question in history "I'm cleaning?"

"Cass" Sid struggled to set the chair right as he realised it was standing on the floor but two of the legs were on different sized piles of books "You wanna break your neck?"

Tony came out from the kitchen and on his way out, he stuffed a piece of bread in his mouth and went to take Effy's wrist as gently as he could. He was still aware of the marks she'd left there.

"Thanks for letting me use the shower Cass" Tony grinned his same smile, a sign of reality that Effy desperately needed to assure herself everything was normal "I've got class in an hour"

"Are you going too?" Cassie momentarily gave up her task on the shelf and turned her eyes to Effy "Psychology sounds boring"

Effy shrugged and looked up at Tony, who once again, was refusing to look at her, before turning back to Cassie "I dunno. I guess"

Either that or he was going to try and get someone to babysit her again. For someone so organised and in control, Effy was surprised how little Tony had thought about this. Why hadn't he thought about where she was going to sleep? Why hadn't he considered the fact that he was going to have to leave her alone while he was in his lectures? Did he think it was going to be that easy? Effy felt better back in Bristol, at least there she knew what she was doing...sort of.

Effy was bright, she was very intelligent but sometimes she couldn't figure her brother out.

"She'll come with me, I'll take her out to lunch later" Tony's hand slid down to hold hers instead and a quiet rebellious voice in Effy wondered if she was now rendered powerless in Tony's eyes. Had she lost all the composure and self-control she'd had when Tony was still in Bristol? Effy didn't know and to a point, she didn't want to know. She'd already had enough and something in her told her she'd already lost control.

Tony took Effy back to Cardiff University and once they reached his dorm room, Effy let go of his hand and went to sit on his bed. She didn't know why, but she felt a little numb.

Tony stayed standing, but he looked at Effy for a moment before closing his bedroom door and checking the bathroom and under the bed to make sure Tyler wasn't around.

An awkward silence then occurred and Effy broke it first.

"So" she said, finally turning her eyes up to look at her tall brother "Fucking anyone?"

Tony didn't look like he knew how to answer that question, so instead he side-stepped it "You're probably going to have to get used to me treating you like you're four again" he told her quite simply "I didn't plan"

"No" Effy croaked in her usual smokers voice "You didn't"

"Give me a break" Tony went to sit on the side of Tyler's bed and stared at Effy with his cold hard eyes that bored into her whenever he was reading her. Effy shifted, she felt a little vulnerable. "When I heard what you'd done to yourself, my first thought was that you couldn't possibly be that crazy"

Effy's head snapped up and she glared at Tony when he inadvertently called her crazy, but Tony, unfazed, continued "Mum told me everything, I wanted to blame someone immediately. Your friends, Cook and Freddie. They were first on my shit list. I blamed mum next and dad. I blamed myself for going so far away and I blamed Roundview College for being so fucking useless"

Still Effy stayed silent whilst Tony slowly got to his point "So when I decided you had to come here, Ef, I wasn't planning at all. I was acting quickly, pure need to get you out of there as soon as possible"

"You always plan" Effy croaked again "You never do things on a whim, Tony, you're too smart for that"

"You nearly died" Tony replied with a simple shrug "Logic and organisation doesn't come into the mix. You know that better than anyone when I got hit by that bus"

Effy blinked. She did know that. She'd called the ambulance, but only after she'd run to Tony, cradled him in her arms and tried to fight through the mess of her brain to figure out what to do next. It was almost like she'd forgotten common sense, forgotten the police and forgotten everything else that went along. All that mattered was her brother in her arms, she could still remember his blood slowly trickling down her arms as she tried to figure out what to do next. She stared at Tony. He wasn't the same as he had been back in Bristol, in fact he was a completely different person with her.

He'd grown up.

He hadn't been careless in not planning for her arrival, he'd been worried. He'd been panicking and he'd been rushed. All of which was forgivable now that she remembered what her reaction had been after seeing Tony get hit by the bus.

"Tony..." Effy blinked at him but Tony simply smiled and stood up.

"Come on" he sighed as he went to the door "I'm not leaving you here alone, and I'm already ten minutes late"

* * *

Katie finally gathered the courage to text Matt and thank him for last night. When Albert awoke, she cleaned him, fed him and agreed to meet Matt for lunch in the middle of town. She saw no harm, Albert could probably use the fresh air.

Katie pushed the pram along the mall, and as she did, she saw a gaggle of four girls run past, security guards after them.

"Frankie come on!" the dark haired one giggled as they raced past.

Katie smiled, she'd done that a few times, running and racing with stolen makeup and such. Normally with Emily. Those were the days when Emily would let Katie choose what she was going to wear for the day.

Katie carried on and when she saw Matt sitting at a table, she pushed Albert beside him first and came around the table to sit on the other side "Hi"

Matt looked up and smiled "Hi. Hungover this morning?"

Katie snorted, an unladylike snort she was probably going to fret about later "It'll take a lot more than that to get me hungover the next morning" she noticed Matt look at Albert and smiled at his look of confusion "This is Albert"

Matt seemed a little confused, but if he was judging, Katie didn't pick up on it because he simply waved to the baby "Hello" he turned to Katie "Is he yours?"

"No, I'm looking after him for a friend" Katie gauged his reaction and was pleasantly surprised.

Most of the assholes Katie dated would have left the cafe if she ever walked in with a baby, those who stayed would have looked overtly relieved when she said it wasn't hers, but Matt was different. Rather than looking relieved, he simply nodded and carried on observing Albert as he gummed on his hands and stared back.

What frustrated Katie was that although his reaction wasn't in anyway like the idiots she'd dated, it was also hard to read.

* * *

When Emily woke up, her head was pounding. Her eyes opened and the harsh sunlight spiked at her headache like someone was driving an iron rod through it. Emily cried out and threw her arm up over her head.

From what little she'd seen, she could at least figure out she was in someone's lounge, lying on a couch.

"She's up" said an unfamiliar male voice, Emily groaned quietly and wondered where Naomi was. Last thing she remembered was getting piss trashed at a bar.

"Good" came Naomi's voice, Emily peeked her head up from her arm and saw Naomi's figure come into focus through the haze. Naomi knelt next to the couch and pushed a bucket next to Emily, her hand also going to Emily's head.

"How's your head?" Naomi smiled kindly, a hint of amusement appeared in her tone and Emily wondered how the migrane from hell could be funny.

"Where are we?" Emily lowered her arm a little more to look around. They were in a lounge, and she was lying on the couch with a simple brown blanket placed over her. Naomi didn't answer and simply smiled as Emily looked around. It was a small but somewhat comfortable lounge, a large poster of Neil Diamond was pinned awkwardly on the wall and the light from the ceiling was hanging a little off balance, as though it was old. She could see a dark haired boy sitting on the arm of the couch nearby, a blonde boy sitting next to him holding his hand.

"Hi" the dark haired boy grinned "I'm James. Found you last night, just offered a couch to sleep that's all"

The blonde smiled lovingly at him and squeezed his hand before turning to Emily "I'm Maxxie" he said quietly for the benefit of Emily's headache "Glad to see you're up"

* * *

**Author's Note:** I am so so sorry I didn't post this earlier. This chapter took forever to write and a little longer to plan.

Reviews are what make me write a heck of a lot faster and I live on them. Thank you so much for being patient, I'll try and get the next chapter up so much faster.


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